Mr Blair's Messiah Politics: A story of inspired government, 1997-2007

Richard D North, 61, is an author, web-master, pamphleteer and broadcasters' pundit. He blogs regularly on the arts for the Social Affairs Unit. He is editor of www.livingissues.com which presents difficult material for young people, with www.globalwarmingissues.com as a leading example.

His "Scrap the BBC!": Ten years to set broadcasters free was published by the SAU in January 2007.

In 2006, SAU published RDN's Mr Blair's Messiah Politics: What happened when Bambi tried to save the world.

As the Independent's founding environment correspondent he was amongst the first mainstream journalists to challenge green fundamentalism (1986-1990), work which continued at the Sunday Times (1990-92) and resulted in his Life On a Modern Planet: A manifesto for progress, Manchester University Press, 1995. He has contributed to the "happiness" debate with Rich Is Beautiful: A very personal defence of Mass Affluence, SAU, 2005.

He is a fellow of the Social Affairs Unit and media fellow of the Institute of Economic Affairs.

"Mine is the first generation able to contemplate the possibility that we may live our entire lives without going to war or sending our children to war." Tony Blair, in his first month as Prime Minister.Paris, 27 May, 1997 [www.pm.gov.uk/output/Page1022.asp]

"On Africa, I fear my own conscience and I fear the judgement of future generations." Tony Blair, at the launch of his Commission for Africa, 11 March, 2005.

"The kaleidoscope has been shaken, the pieces are in flux, soon they will settle again. Before they do, let us reorder this world around us." Tony Blair's Labour party conference speech, after 9/11, 2001.

"It's worse than you think. I believe in it. I am truly committed to dealing with this, irrespective of the position of America." Tony Blair, interview with The Guardian, just before the Iraq war, 1 March, 2003. [link]

RDN quote

"Blair developed a Messiah Politics whose main characteristic was manipulative loftiness&. Oddly, as we shall see, it contributed to Blair's only claim to greatness."RDN, IntroductionMr Blair's Messiah Politics: A story of inspired government, 1997-2007

“The Social Affairs Unit is famous for driving its coach and horses through the liberal consensus scattering intellectual picket lines as it goes [and] for raising questions which strike most people most of the time as too dangerous or too difficult to think about.” (The Times)